horrible time with scsi performance.....PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

[derekb77]

im having a horrible time with building my scsi based sytem. im not getting the performance that i thought i would.


here is my system:
ka7
800mhz athlon
128mb memory
scsi 18 gb fujitsu drive 10,000rpm
scsi pioneer 6x32x dvd-303s
scsi yamaha 8x4x24 cd-rw
adaptec scsi controller 29160
3d prophet II

i have two problems and i think theyre both related to my setup:

1. the first problem is that im getting a buffer underrun error when burning cds. it happens when i burn from the hd to the cd-rw. i am trying to burn at 8x to my yamaha 8x4x24. i have an 80 pin 10k drive that i have hooked up to the LVD 68pin scsi connector on my adaptec-29160 card. the transfer rate is supposed to be 80mb/s.

i also get the buffer underrun error when i burn disk to disk. my source drive is a pioneer dvd-303s which should be able to support an extraction rate to burn at 8x because ive seen numerous places on the web stating that it can be done.

2. second when i run the sandra benchmarking utility to test my scsi hd, the performance is terrible. my drive is an 18 gb scsi 10,000 rpm drive so it should be performing better.

how can i trouble shoot this problem so i can get optimal performance from everything? is there a way to check whether or not i am running optimally? my scsi hd is my mane drive and this is where my system boots from.


i also have two 5400 rpm IDE harddrives for storage. hooked up to the IDE 1 controler. one is the primary master and one is the primary slave. (i think the problem could be here too.)

more detailed sys temconfigiuration

i am running windows 98se. my fujitsu drive is connected to the lvd interface on the 29160 controller. it has the the "0" scsi assignment. i have my two disk drives daisy chained from the regular (50 pin) scsi on the controller, with the pioneer dvd drive being the farthest on the chain. the yamaha drive is given the "1" scsi assignmnet and the pioneer drive is given the "2" scsi assignment. i did not assign any of the scsi assignmnets myself, it automatically detected them in tha way. the adaptec 29160 controller is in the third pci slot. i have the latest drivers from the adaptec website loaded. originally i had the controller in slot one but had to move it cause it was interfering with my video card. also i have my bios set up to boot off of the scsi. the IDE drives i have are connected to the 1st IDE channel on the motherboard. they are daisy chained and one is primary master and one is primary slave. can you please help!!! im stuck and dont know how to optimize my setup. thanks

 

[Radboy]

In device mgr, do u have 'sync data x-fer' enabled (check in box) for CD-ROM & burner? if not, do so. How about 'disconnect' that should be checked enabled, too. Disable auto-insert.

What burning app? Nero? I hear Nero likes SCSI. Latest update for that?

Do u have write cache enabled on the HDD? Some drives, like my IBMs, come w/ write cache disable, which hurts perf significantly.

Fugitsu might have firmware updates avail for the HDD, & the other companies might have for their SCSI devices (CD-ROM & burner).

Not sure, but i think DVD drives suk at DAE, so if u are trying to copy a music CD .. could = probs.

I heard the Yamaha is a good burner. I have Plextors & Tekram U2W.

 

[derekb77]

more detailed system configiuration

i am running windows 98se. my fujitsu drive is connected to the lvd interface on the 29160 controller. it has the the "0" scsi assignment. i have my two disk drives daisy chained from the regular (50 pin) scsi on the controller, with the pioneer dvd drive being the farthest on the chain. the yamaha drive is given the "1" scsi assignmnet and the pioneer drive is given the "2" scsi assignment. i did not assign any of the scsi assignmnets myself, it automatically detected them in tha way. the adaptec 29160 controller is in the third pci slot. i have the latest drivers from the adaptec website loaded. originally i had the controller in slot one but had to move it cause it was interfering with my video card. also i have my bios set up to boot off of the scsi. the IDE drives i have are connected to the 1st IDE channel on the motherboard. they are daisy chained and one is primary master and one is primary slave. can you please help!!! im stuck and dont know how to optimize my setup. thanks

 

[Pariah]

The first thing you should do is take your sandra benchmark, put it in the recycling bin and never use it again. Try using ATTO, HD Tach or even the now somewhat questionably Winbench. Secondly, make sure both SCSI chains are terminated properly. The LVD cable must have an active terminator at the end of it, the LVD SCSI drive has no termination in it.

 

[Steven the Leech]

I think the 2960 only supports 40mb transfers--not sure, i have a 2940u2w and it does 80.Even if i am wrong u need to have an active lvd terminator--the drives dont provide termination, --had the same problem myself with mine and it worked fine after getting the right terminator. Remember(in case ya dont know) the slowest drive will drag all of the other drives on the same chain to its speed.

 

[Pariah]

He has a 29160 which is a SCSI160 card and will require a terminator on the cable.

 

[Clinth]

I'm not sure about your m/b but most will give you all kinds of trouble if you use the IDE hard drives on the primary controller move them to the secondary. next make sure you don't have disconnect enabled in both the scsi bios and windows one or the other. If its in both you could run in to trouble there. Also in the scsi bios set you transfer rate to what it is not the default i.e.. CD= 10mb/s unless wide then 20mb/s. Make sure you only have drive terminated. I prefer to use my hard drive. Triple check your setup cause LVD is very unforgiving. If all as fails call Adaptec they are very friendly and are more then willing to walk you through your setup.

Clinth